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10 Dad Inspired Family Activities

He’s adventurous, quirky, and not afraid to get his hands dirty – he’s dad! This Father’s Day, have fun with the whole family with these easy and affordable dad inspired summer activities.

1. Try breakfast for dinner. Pancakes and sausage aren’t just for breakfast anymore! Help your dad stir the batter, flip the bacon, and set the table. You can even wrap up the evening with a TV show from his childhood!

2. Camp out in the backyard. Pitch a tent and whip out the sleeping bags. Or, if you have larger trees in your backyard, tie some clothesline or rope between the trees and hang a sheet over the line to create a makeshift tent. Don’t forget to bring your flashlight and your best ghost story!

3. Build a fort in the living room. If camping outside isn’t an option, use pillows, sheets, big cardboard boxes, and chairs (or any combination) to construct a wizard-worthy castle right in your living room. Turn off all the lights and use flashlights to project shadow puppets and planets on the walls of your fort. You can add to the experience by hanging paper stars from the ceiling or taping them to the inside of your tent. Pretend it’s a “real” camp site with microwaved smores, a round of stories, and a card game or two!

4. Have a treasure hunt at home. A treasure hunt can be just as fun to plan as it is to be a part of! Choose a theme (like pirates, dinosaurs, princesses, or Ancient Egypt), write out clues that will guide your treasure hunters from place to place, and have treasure waiting at the end. For budget-friendly treasure, gather theme related knick-knacks at a local thrift store, bake goodies at home, or re-purpose old toys. Click for step-by-step tips to create the ultimate in-home treasure hunt!

5. Have a water balloon fight. Fill up dozens of water balloons and give your dad his very own bucket of ammunition. Then…start running! Or, use cardboard boxes to create a small city in your driveway or yard. Draw windows, doors, or targets on the buildings and test your accuracy as you launch water balloons at your box city!

6. Go geocaching. Geocaching is a high-tech version of hide-and-seek where you explore the outdoors, find “treasure,” and hide it too! It’s completely free. If you have a GPS device or mobile phone with a navigational app, you can play. To get started, head over to the official global GPS Cache Hunt site, enter your zip code, and log in to find your nearest cache!

7. Play glow-in-the-dark-bowling. Create your very own bowling alley! Drop glow sticks into six water bottles, clear a path in the kitchen or in a hallway, and set up the pins (water bottles) in a triangle formation. Grab a ball, turn off the lights, and have some fun! Click for step-by-step instructions.

8. Brew spooky potions. Using everyday kitchen items, you can create eerie potions that bubble, change color, and grow like magic. Get your wands ready because you'll feel like you've created your very own mystical laboratory! Click for ingredients and instructions.

9. Put together a family time capsule. Gather pictures, toys, and small pieces of memorabilia to stash in a metal container. Write notes to yourself and to each other describing life as it currently is and what you hope it is like in the future. Check out The Library of Congress for a detailed set of tips to consider when building your time capsule.

10. Create an Olympic obstacle course. Pull out household items to bike, scooter, or run around, and then give the course a whirl! Award makeshift medals or ribbons to the competitor with the best costume, the silliest run, or the fastest completion time.

How will you celebrate dad this Father's Day? Try these affordable and family-friendly weekend activities and head over to our Facebook page to share your favorite Father's Day memories!